A Knight's Companion
by Fyrloche
Summary: Xander prays for help and gets something more than he expected.
1. Chapter 1

-1**A/N: Okay. This is my first attempt at a 'Buffy' fic. I hope that it meets with your approval. I accept criticism well, so if you see any problems or have any ideas about the direction this story is going in, feel free to let me know. I don't offend easily so I don't expect you to hold back. Now for the disclaimer - I don't own 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'Mercedes Lackey'. Enjoy.**

Prologue

The dark haired man walked into the night even though he knew better than most the dangers that stalked the darkness. His need to be alone outweighed the dangers. 'Besides,' he thought grimly, 'there isn't anything out here that I'm not more dangerous than, right now.' He snorted. 'Yeah, right! Who am I kidding?' Sadness mixed with bitterness swept over him. His friends wanted to keep him out of the fight because he was the 'normal' one. He could almost understand their reasoning, but he would be damned if he would accept it. He turned his anguished gaze to the stars. After gazing at the bright points for a few minutes, he bowed his head and remembered something he had heard from a priest one time about the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availing much. He didn't know if he qualified as a righteous man but he was fervent. "Please," he prayed, "I just want to help my family. Give me the strength to help them, that's all I ask. I don't want anything for myself, just a way to protect them." As he finished, he felt a wave of peace wash over him. Whether it meant anything special or if it was just a lightening of his soul because of the prayer he didn't know, but regardless of the source, he accepted the peace readily. Nodding with a slight smile on his face, he turned to go to the house he lived in.

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"Our child has asked for our help." A beautiful dark haired woman turned to face the golden haired man next to her. "He is one of the last of our people. We must help him."

The golden haired man looked affectionately into the starred eyes of his mate. "Indeed my Lady, we do need to help him. What do you propose?"

She smiled at her Lord. "He asked for nothing for himself. Doesn't that remind you of some of our servants from millennia ago?"

He stared at his Lady in bemusement. "Indeed, My Lady. He does have their qualities. But there are none left to teach him those ways."

"There were none to teach them when they began either." she pointed out. "Besides, we can relax the rules slightly in regards to who teaches him." She smiled with a gleam of mischief in her starry eyes. "After all, we are the ones who made the rules in the first place."

"What of his powers?" her Lord said, changing the subject. "They exist only in potential at this time. They will need to be activated."

"He lives near a dimensional nexus." the Lady reminded her mate. "It shouldn't be too hard to awaken his potentials."

"Very well, it shall be done." The man paused. "When do we answer his prayer?"

"We will need to plan carefully as to how to arrange for his potential to become active." She paused and then smiled. "I believe I know who among the departed would make the most well rounded partner."

Vykandis, the Sun Lord of the long forgotten nations of Karse and Iftel, quirked an eyebrow at his mate, the Star-eyed Goddess of the equally forgotten Shin'a'in. "Partner? Don't you mean Companion?"

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**A/N: I know it's short, but it is just the set-up. Later chapters will be longer.**


	2. Chapter 2

-1Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm going to clear the air, right away. This story will not be strictly canon. Of course, you probably suspected that since it is a Valdemar crossover. I will keep some of the storyline intact, but don't get too upset if I take a sudden turn into left field. Xander's Companion will not be typical. He will be one of the established Valdemar characters who does things his own way and will have the permission of Vkandis and Kaled'a'in to do some things that may be considered out of character for a Companion. (Nothing major. Think Yfandes.) I am considering adding another Companion later, but that is an unsure development. It will depend on where this story leads me. Now, for the standard disclaimer, I don't own Buffy or Valdemar. sigh I have to agree with another author out there. It is obvious that we don't own these characters, so why do we have to come out and say we don't. I would be willing to bet that Mercedes Lackey or Joss Whedon don't come on these websites and write stories. Of course, I could be wrong.**

'Some days just aren't worth waking up for,' lamented Xander in silence. The Fluke, as he thought of it, had left him at odds with his friends. He understood Oz's animosity. 'Word a day calendars, gotta love 'em.' Hell, he would have felt the same if Oz had kissed Cordy. He could understand Willow, a little bit. He figured that she was mostly Guilt Girl right now. Queen C was easy to figure out. The one that bothered him was Buffy. Of course, part of it was probably a front to exclude him from the slaying but she was treating him just short of being a cross between a child molester and a rapist. 'Hello! Willow was lips and tongue into that kiss just like I was.' he thought.

"Female conspiracy, that's what it is." he muttered to himself. He groaned silently. 'That's what I get for having all these PMS type friends.'

"Well, if it isn't the Zeppo." a very familiar voice snarked behind him. "What's the matter, loser boy? Your friends still shutting you out?"

Xander turned to see Cordelia, as beautiful as ever except for the sneer that twisted her mouth. "You shouldn't twist your mouth like that, Queen C. You look like you're related to Snyder."

Cordy's eyes briefly widened in shock at the verbal barb from him. Xander had been being pretty passive to her attacks. Briefly, she wondered what had changed before putting that thought on the back burner and resuming her assault. "I think that you're worth that risk, Zeppo." She slowly paced around him. "You know, I thought you were pathetic before, but with your little playmates gone, you are even more of a loser. It's pretty bad when a loser loses his loser friends."

"At least I had real friends to lose, Cordy." Xander turned to walk away.

"Yeah, well," Cordy floundered and then threw out her parting shot that she grabbed at random, not really thinking about what she said until after she said it. "Next thing for a loser like you is to lose your parents."

Xander's shoulders hunched as if he had been struck a physical blow. He slowly turned back to look at his ex-girlfriend.

Cordelia actually took a step back at the look of pain on her ex-boyfriends face. Then she remembered some of the things that he had told her in confidence. She lifted her hand to her mouth in shock as she realized what she had said. "Xander, I…"

"I should be so lucky." was all he had to say before he turned around and ran straight into his two former best friends, who had apparently heard most of the confrontation. He steeled himself to the look on their faces and gently shouldered past them. "Pardon me, ladies." He hurried his steps as he heard Willow give out a strained "Xander!" behind him and Buffy's "No, Will! It's better this way. You know that!"

Suddenly, he stopped. 'Enough is enough.' Xander spun back to his former, by their thought, best friends. "What's better this way, Buffy?" His eyes flashed in anger. "Deciding that I'm better off without my friends." He turned a pointed look at Willow. "One of which was my friend since kindergarten. Just who are you to make that decision?"

Buffy was a little taken aback by the sudden attack from a usually quiet Xander. Then her anger kicked in. "We're just trying to protect you, you idiot!"

"From who, Buff?" he challenged. "The sordid night life around here? You may be able to keep me away from you, but you can't keep me out of things. You can't be everywhere at once."

"Xander." Buffy's tone become ominous. "I'd better not catch you out there."

"Or what, Buffy? You gonna beat me up? Stake me?" Xander turned his back on the Slayer. "That would kind of defeat the purpose of kicking me out of the group, wouldn't it?"

"I could always tell your parents to keep you home." she called to his retreating back. "I could tell them that you are involved in something dangerous."

Xander stopped and started shaking.

Buffy thought for a moment that he was angry or crying. She was wrong. He was shaking with laughter. But this laughter disturbed her. There was no mirth in it. In fact, it reminded her all too much of the Hyena.

Xander turned to look at her one last time. "Go ahead, Buff. All they'll do is make sure that my insurance is paid up so that they can collect if I get killed." He snorted. "Hell, my dad would probably sell me to a vamp for a bottle of booze if he thought he could." He cocked a mocking grin at the shock on her face. "What? Think all parents are as good as your mom? I wish." He pretended a glance at his watch. "Look at the time. It's been fun but I gotta run." He turned and left the shell shocked trio standing in the hall.

He turned a corner and stopped, leaning back against the nearest wall. Closing his eyes, he reached inside of himself for the peace that he had found during his late night walk. Breathing deeply, he let it calm him and work to soothe some of his pain.

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_Elsewhere_

"So, how much leeway are we going to give our new Companion?"

Kaled'a'in leaned back into her husbands arms. "He will have to train his new charge in weapons skill. I believe that we should give him the ability to walk the dream road and train young Alexander like my lesya'e Kal'enedral trained the Swordsworn."

Vkandis smiled, slightly. "Put him through his paces while he sleeps and then observe him and correct him when awake? It is a bit unorthodox, but should work given who the Companion will be." He paused and kissed his mate lightly on the temple. "Did I ever praise you on your choice? He was one of my favorites."

The Goddess smiled as she snuggled deeper into her husband's arms. "That was one of the reasons that I chose him. Along with the fact that he has as unwavering a concept of honor as does Alexander. And the resolve to break established rules in the defense of a loved one."

"Yes." he agreed. "They will be well matched." Vkandis sighed. "Now to activate Alexander's potentials. He won't be thanking us anytime soon for what we are about to do to him."

"I think that he will surprise you. His desire to help will outweigh his irritation at the way that his powers are awakened."

"I certainly hope so. Those idiot Powers That Be have left him with some not unjustified prejudices against higher powers."

"We will just have to change that, won't we?"

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Day passed and night came, along with a very severe and very strange thunderstorm. It baffled meteorologists, since there had been no signs foretelling of it in the weather data that they had. That and the fact that it seemed to come from out of no where and disappeared almost as quickly. The storm had lasted all of 15 minutes before vanishing.

They would have scratched their collective heads even more, or checked themselves into an institution, if they had witnessed some of the other anomalies that happened with the brief storm.

In a forest grove, a few miles from the home of Xander Harris, there was a small clearing. This was significant because the clearing was at the center of the storm. The wind whipped in a clockwise fashion as an underlying tension grew in the air. Suddenly, the impossible occurred. Four bolts of lightening fell from the sky from the four cardinal points of the compass to impact the earth at the center of the small vale. If there had been an observer, he would have seen a blinding flash of light that, as it faded, coalesced into a shimmering form of pure white.

When the after affects of the collective lightening strike had faded, the four legged form shook itself with a long snort. Then it threw its head back and gave a loud whiney before taking off at a gallop, heading in an unerring straight line towards the home of Xander Harris.

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Xander had a bad night. Strange dreams plagued him. Or, maybe it would be better to say, one recurring strange dream plagued him. It was an odd, disjointed thing. Sometimes showing himself alone, other times in the company of Faith. That wasn't all that strange. Ever since Faith showed up, the dark slayer had shown up in his dreams from time to time, usually with very little on. She was damn sexy, after all. They had made him a little guilty since he was with Cordy at the time, but his hormones didn't have the same conscience that he did. This dream had him fighting at Faith's back. It felt … right. There were flashes of the others fighting in the library. And, of all things, a white horse galloping in from out of nowhere. Xander rubbed his eyes as he sat up in bed. 'Damn! That was weird.' The more he thought about it, the more he came to the realization that he needed to talk to Giles about it. "Besides, I need to see what the G-man will tell me about what's going down at night." he said to himself, talking out loud. He yawned and shook his head. "Man, I'm talking to myself. I hope I can get the others to realize they need me around before I really go around the bend and start answering myself."

That said, he got out of bed and snuck into the bathroom for a quick shower before his parents woke up. He really didn't feel like listening to his father list his shortcomings. Or, worse, have to dodge a swing from his old man. He had been careful to not let a blow land for several years since he didn't know what his reflexes would do to the old bastard. It was hard enough to keep Alpha in check from just the verbal abuse. If the old girl had her way, Tony Harris would have been gutted within a week of the possession, but Xander had been able to keep her reigned in. The Soldier possession had made it easier to control Alpha, but his reflexes were combat triggered. This meant that if Harris the elder ever landed a hit, Soldier and Alpha would probably clean his clock. He snorted from under the shower. His 'alters', as he sometimes thought of them, would love nothing better than to take over and put the 'Fear of God' into the drunken slob.

He turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and cocked his head to listen while drying. 'Good.' he thought. 'They're still in la-la land.' He scooted to his room to get dressed quickly. He grabbed his books and headed out to school, pausing just long enough to grab a couple of slices of raw toast with butter on his way out. As he hit the sidewalk he glanced at his watch and decided that he needed to hoof it if he was going to speak to G-man before classes started. Taking off at a trot, he never noticed the sapphire blue eyes that watched him.

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Giles had turned out to be decidedly unhelpful. 'I've gotta give him credit though.' Xander mused. 'He at least listened to me.' And then handed Xander a book on dream interpretation. He DID make with a funny though as he handed over the book. His words were delivered in that dry English humor of his.

"I believe that this will help you understand your dreams better, Xander. However," Giles smirked at the younger man, "I think that the inclusion of Faith needs no interpretation."

"So you think that my hormones are just in overdrive." had been Xander's return comment.

Giles had actually cocked an eyebrow at him. "Xander, you are a teenaged male who is surrounded closely by beautiful young females on an almost constant basis. It would not have surprised me if more than Faith had appeared in your dreams."

Xander returned to the present with a head shake and a sigh. "Looks like I'll have to figure it out for myself." he said to the air as he walked across the quad. Suddenly, he got an itching feeling on the back of his neck. Alpha's hackles raised as the hyena spirit felt an observer. The Soldier concurred with his roommate; there was something watching. Xander did a slow observing turn. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Students were milling around. There was an occasional small animal getting under foot and, off in the distance, the equestrian club's fenced pasture. Xander's eyes held briefly on the pure white horse that was standing at the fence facing him before moving on. Realizing what he had seen, he brought his eyes back to the horse. "Huh!" he mused, aloud. "Bet that's were the white horse in my dream came from. I must have seen it that field before." He suddenly chuckled at himself as he shook his head, ruefully. "Should've known that dream was nothing before getting all worked up over it." He turned and headed on to class, never once noticing that the white horse in question turned its head to watch him go.

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The rest of the day was uneventful, which was actually par for the course. It was always the nightlife that got insane in the sleepy little town of Sunnydale. Due to a little serendipitous (word calendar again) eavesdropping, Xander had found out that the Scoobies _sans_ Xander were expecting a group of demonic women, the Sisterhood of Jhe, sometime soon. That meant that he was going out to do a little scouting around since it seemed that the rest of the gang was going to sit on the Hellmouth and wait. This led to another interesting discovery.

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"Come on, Harris! Join us. Being a zombie isn't all that bad." Jack O'Toole pitched his sales pitch with the skill of a used car salesman. "You don't age. You don't have to eat. You don't have to work. You can't die."

"Can't have sex." Xander rebutted. "And, really, the 'don't eat' thing, not a good selling point. I like Twinkies too much."

"Alright. So a couple of minor disadvantages." He made it sound like a couple of small dents in a fender. "Overall, it's a sweet deal." O'Toole's face took on a look of menace. "Besides, if you aren't with us, you're against us."

"Let me think about it." Xander replied, as he backed away.

O'Toole nodded. "Alright. You do that, but don't take too long. We're going to set off some fireworks tonight that are going to give this town one hell of a show." He turned with his group of zombies and laughed as they faded into the darkness.

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Xander continued his patrol, which was surprisingly vamp free. He was considering calling it a night when he heard the sounds of fighting. He paused and checked his weapons (a couple of knives, a stake, and a squirt gun of holy water) before heading toward the fight. He wondered briefly if Buffy had decided to go out on patrol after all when he had a sudden intuitive flash. It wasn't Buffy fighting. It was Faith. He took off at a dead run.

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Faith was holding her own against some very ugly women, but they were getting some shots in because there were just too many of them. 'B,' she thought in irritation, 'you're just like a cop. Never around when you need 'em.' She considered a cut and run but these VUB (Very Ugly Bitches) had her cornered. 'No hope for it but to fight my way out.' "Come on, ladies!" she taunted. "My grandmother hit harder than you ugly bitches." Not one of her better insults, but she was a little too occupied with staying alive to think of something better. Besides, the quick quips were B's department. She was into the quick slay.

Faith grunted as one of the VUB got in a backhanded hit that spun her around. 'Damn! I could use some of that quippage right now.'

"So, are you guys trying to share your beauty secrets with Faith? Cause I'm here to tell ya', she doesn't need 'em."

Request granted.

Faith looked over at the voice. 'Harris.' she thought, identifying the young man who had come out of the shadows. 'Figures I would get back-up from the one I probably need to protect. 'As she watched, he reached behind his back and pulled out two very wicked looking knives. 'Looks like the X-man is better prepared to fight than I had been led to believe.' He looked at her a grinned that lop-sided grin of his.

"Yo, Faith." He tossed her one of the knives. "You look under dressed. Maybe this will help you get decent."

Faith smiled at him in a feral, sexy way. "Boy-toy, you haven't seen me under dressed, yet. Play your cards right and you might get to."

He gaped for a second before his attention was brought back to the present by an attacking Sister of Jhe. He ducked the blow and managed a slash on the back of the arm that had swiped at him. Soldier was lecturing in the back of his mind. 'Forget the quick kill. IF an opening for a kill comes open, take it. Otherwise, concentrate on cutting as much as possible. The more cuts, the more pain, the more bleeding, and the faster your target gets weaker from blood loss. Now get to your partner and guard her six!'

Xander slashed at the Sister between him and Faith in a fast 'V' motion, one of which connecting. This gave him the opening he needed to run to Faith. "Faith!" he shouted, knowing that running up on a slayer's back unannounced during a fight was not a good idea. "I got your six!" He skidded to a stop behind her and quickly turned to put his back against hers. 'Damn!' he thought as his back pressed against hers briefly while they circled. 'She's so warm. And soft. And….Get your mind back on this fight before you get yourself and her killed!'

"Boy-toy, you ain't half bad." Faith commented over her shoulder as she cut a Sister who got too close.

"Back at ya', Sexy." replied Xander, as he tried the 'V' cut again as was rewarded with a double hit. The praise did wonders for his ego.

"I tell ya'," she grunted as she ducked a swing and followed up with a low swing of her own across the ribs of the Sister, "B don't know a good thing when she sees it. I'll take you as back-up anytime." Faith suddenly saw her chance and put her knife up under the ribcage of the VUB in front of her and into her heart. Unfortunately, they were still outnumbered.

Xander was able to decrease the odds as a kill shot came open. The she-demon facing him had over extended and had her side left open. Xander reversed the blade he was holding and quickly drove it into said side at armpit level. The knife went in smooth as cutting butter and severed the aorta, but the saw bladed back caught on bone and wrenched the blade out of Xander's hand as the dying demon fell to the ground. Xander swore as he grabbed for his stake. 'Damn! Damn! Damn! Not good!' Three sisters remained. Two came at Xander since he was more lightly armed than the Slayer.

"Oh, shit." Xander was sure he was about to buy it when he heard something. It was the sound of hooves galloping, accompanied by the chiming of bells. Bells? A white stallion suddenly appeared out of the night. With a scream of equine rage, it reared and brought down its fore hooves to smash one of the two demons to the ground. Spinning faster than anything that size should be able to, it brought its rear hooves into play, kicking out to score a double shot to the head of the other demon. Xander gaped at his savior, until he heard a cry of pain behind him. He turned to see Faith down. The last demon had gotten past her guard and had thrown her. She was clutching her shoulder with her face contorted with pain.

Xander saw the demon closing in for the kill and his eyes flashed green. 'Pack mate injured! Protect! Kill!' Alpha exerted control and went in for the kill. The Hyena spirit retained enough presence of mind to scoop up Faith's dropped knife before leaping at the demon that had the audacity to injure one of the pack. Xander drove the knife through the back of the skull, instantly killing the last Sister of Jhe. Before the body had dropped completely to the ground, he was at Faith's side, assessing her injuries.

"How bad did ugly get you, Faith?" he asked as he gently prodded her shoulder.

Faith bit down on her pain. "Think my shoulder is dislocated." she hissed. She held out her good hand. "Help me up, stud."

Xander pulled her to her feet and was about to say something to her when a soft whinny accompanied by a gentle nudge in the back distracted him. Distracted? More like, scared the crap out of him.

Xander screamed and spun in place to see the stallion looking at him expectantly. His hand clutching at his chest, he began to yell at the horse. "DON'T DO THAT!" he panted heavily for a second as he heard Faith chuckle slightly behind him. "Jeeze, give a guy a heart…." That was as far as he got before he looked into the sapphire blue eyes of the stallion. They reached out to him and he felt like he was falling into their depths. A deep, gravely voice spoke softly within his head.

_"Greetings, Alexander. Albriech my name is. Your Companion I am. My Chosen you are. Never without a friend will you be again."_

"Whoa!" was all Xander could say as he stared at the gleaming white stallion before him.

**A/N: I'm through playin' now! This chapter took a while. Lot's of things going on with the holidays and all. Okay, I know that I took a few ahem liberties with the story line. Call it poetic license. It's no worse than some of the other stories I've read. I hope that you enjoy it. Have a Merry Christmas! Next will be Faith's reaction to Albriech, and then the gang's reaction later. It should be interesting, to say the least. **


	3. Chapter 3

-1Chapter Two

**A/N: You guys blow me away! Man! Thank you for the kind reviews and for all the people who have put me on their favorites list with this story. My Inuyasha stories always got great reviews, but not as many as quickly as this one. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. I hope that I can keep you entertained. Now, on to the story. I don't own Buffy, Xander, Faith, or Albriech. **

Xander stared in gaped mouth shock at the white horse. 'No,' his mind corrected, 'Companion.' He wondered briefly if he had gone completely around the bend.

"Yo, Boy toy." came the slightly pained voice of Faith, bringing him back out of his daze. "Stop staring at Silver there and give me a hand."

"Damn." he said, as he turned back towards the slayer. "Geeze, I'm sorry, Faith. Let me look at your arm." He inspected her shoulder. "It does look like it's dislocated. I'd better get you to a doctor."

Faith bit back a groan. "No need for that. Just get me to my hotel and you can put it back in its socket." She gave him a pain laced grin at the shocked look on his face. "It ain't that hard to do, stud. Then slayer healing will kick in and then, baddabing, baddaboom, I'm good as new." Her grin took on less pain and more of something that made his heart tighten in his chest. "Then I can thank you for saving my ass." That said, she leaned into him and grabbed the back of his head with her good arm and pulled him in for a fierce kiss.

_"Strong she is. A warrior's spirit she has."_

Xander broke the kiss and spun to face the Companion. "Cut that out!"

"Well, excuse me for trying to be nice!" came an angry voice from behind him.

'Oh, shit!' Xander spun back to look into the face of a very pissed off and slightly hurt slayer. "No, Faith! That wasn't directed at you. I definitely didn't want you to cut that out. No cutting out with the kissing." He held up his hands in a placating manner. "It's this damn horse's…" he started to say, making a gesture towards the decidedly amused looking stallion.

_"Companion." _Albriech said firmly in his mind.

"Alright, dammit! Companion's fault! He keeps talking to me!"

Faith gave Xander a strange look and edged back slightly from him. "No offense, X-man, but he looks more like Silver than Mister Ed and I don't hear him talking."

"That's because," suddenly what he was saying caught up with him. He visibly deflated as he finished his sentence, "I hear him in my head."

_"Mindspeech it is called, Chosen. How I speak to you it is."_

"Mindspeech, telepathy; I don't care what it's called, you're still talking in my head! " Xander glared at his Companion. "And you sound like Yoda!"

Albriech stomped his foot and shook his head. _"Small and green, I am NOT. My speech my own is."_

Faith started to back away from Xander. "Look, Boy toy, you are obviously having a moment with your horse here so I'll just be going." She started to turn to walk away when Albriech swung his head to look directly into her eyes. The sapphire blue of his eyes caught her sight for a moment when a voice announced firmly and with no preamble, _"Horse, I am not! Alexander's Companion I am!"_

Faith abruptly sat down on the ground. "Whoa." was all she could say for a moment. Xander came over and knelt beside her.

"Are you okay, Faith?" he asked in concern.

"He really is talking in your mind, isn't he?"

Xander grinned at her. Then he laughed a little before looking back at the impatiently waiting Companion. "Yeah, he is." He looked thoughtful. "It's actually pretty cool, in a wigsome kind of way."

"I'll take your word for it." Faith looked at Albriech in sudden suspicion. "Are you sure he's not a demon?"

Her words brought out an unforeseen reaction from Albriech. His rueful mind speech reached out to both of them. _"Unbelievable, this is. Centuries pass and for demons are Companions still mistaken."_

Xander stood and helped Faith to her feet. "So, you're saying that you're not a demon." The Companion nodded his head. "What proof do we have that you're telling the truth?"

Albriech looked at him in something that seemed to be approval. It was hard to tell since Xander wasn't used to reading a horse's (Companion's!) expressions. _"None, save my word."_

"Well, you did pull my butt out of the fire." Xander conceded.

"What the hell, X-man, let's give him a chance. I don't feel any bad guy vibes off him." Faith paused before she smiled, widely. "Besides, if he turns out evil, I can make with the slay."

_"No easy task that would be, Slayer Faith."_

Faith sneered at him playfully. "Confident, are you? I like that in a man, or whatever you are."

Xander rolled his eyes at Faith flirting with the Companion. "Okay, we've got to get Faith taken care of and then I have some questions for you. Can you carry both of us?"

Albriech looked at his Chosen and Xander could feel the approval radiating off the Companion. _"Easily."_

Faith looked at Albriech in delight. "I've always loved horses!" she gushed. "I always wanted a pony when I was a little girl!"

Xander grinned in delight at Faith's reaction. In that moment she seemed a sweet, innocent little girl instead of the tough, sexy slayer. He helped her swing up onto the Companions bareback, and then he swung up behind her, exhibiting more agility than most people thought he had. "All right, Faith. Tell Al where we're going."

Albriech slowly turned his head back to look at Xander with one of his eyes. _"Al?"_ came the slightly incredulous query.

Xander grinned at his Companion. "Yeah. It's short for Albriech."

Albriech snorted in disgust and turned his head to face the road. _"Aware of that I was."_ His mind voice was clipped. _"Discuss this we will."_ he promised. He swiveled his ear back to listen to the directions that Faith began to give him and then set off at a slow walk so as not to unnecessarily jostle his injured passenger.

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Xander dismounted in front of the flea bag motel that Faith had directed them to. He didn't really pay attention to the place as he helped her off Albriech since he was more concerned with her injury. When he had Faith on the ground, he turned towards the motel and started to ask, "Which room?", but stopped, appalled by the appearance of the place.

"Faith?" he started speaking softly. "Please tell me you are NOT staying here."

Faith shrugged with her good shoulder. "It's a place to flop. I've lived in worse."

Steel entered his voice. "Not anymore." He stepped in front of her and looked her in the eyes. "After we get you fixed up, you're packing and I'm going to the office and checking you out."

Faith glared at him. "And what makes you think that you can come in here and order me around? I'm my own boss and I can decide where I stay myself. Besides," she paused and looked around her, "maybe I like it here."

Xander and Albriech snorted at the same time. Xander shared a look with his Companion before looking back at the slayer. "I'm sorry, Faith. I'm not trying to order you around, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let a friend of mine stay in a place like THIS." He expanded his arms in a gesture to encompass the motel and its courtyard. "I've seen dumps that were cleaner than this place."

"I don't need a White Knight!" Faith shouted.

"I'm not being a White Knight! I'm being your friend!" Xander shouted back.

"And what kind of benefits do you expect being my 'friend'?" Faith shot back.

Xander's mouth hung open in shock at her suggestion. "What?" he finally managed.

Faith rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, boy toy. You can't tell me that you don't want something to be my friend. Guys always want something."

Xander could feel his anger rise, but he quickly quashed it. Faith didn't know him and apparently had not had many trustworthy guy friends. "Fine, Faith. You're right. I do want something from you."

"Uh-huh. I knew you did." Her face had a very brief flash of disappointment on it before she stepped past him to the door of her room. "Get in here and help fix me up and I'll thank you for pulling my butt out of that jam."

Xander put his arm across the door in front of her, blocking her from going in. "You haven't let me tell you what I want yet."

Faith sneered at him. "I doubt it's anything that I haven't done before."

He took a quick breath before blurting out, "I want your friendship and your trust."

Now it was Faith's turn to have a jaw drop. "What?"

"Your friendship. And, eventually I hope, your trust."

Faith looked at him for a second and then started laughing. "You had me there for a second, X-man." She grimaced. "I don't do the trust thing and friends slow me down." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Besides, can you honestly tell me that you don't want my body?" She ran her good hand up her body suggestively.

Xander shuddered and turned beet red. "I meant what I said, Faith. I want to be your friend. So, I guess I had better try to prove it to you by telling you the truth." He paused and ran his hands through his hair while searching for the right way to say what he was going to say next. "Look, part of me does want you and wants to take what you're offering, you wouldn't believe how bad, but, damn it, another part of me", he sighed, "well, that side thinks that we are a good team and wants to have you for a longer time than one night. And that means getting to know you better. And I hope you getting to know me better."

Faith looked at him in disbelief. "You're not joking, are you?" She shook her head. "You don't know what you're asking for X. I got a lot of baggage."

Xander smirked and jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards his Companion. "Then it's a good thing that I've got a hor…Companion to carry it all."

_"So, pack mule have I become?"_

Xander shot a look at Albriech. "Well, you've got the legs for it." Then he grinned at the Companion. "Besides, I've got the feeling that you could teach a mule a thing or two about being stubborn."

_"Sound like Selenay you do."_ Albriech replied in a rueful tone.

"Selenay?" Xander asked.

_"Someone from a previous life. Perhaps tell you one day I will."_

"Okay, will you two stop that?" Xander and Albriech turned their heads to look at Faith, who was watching them with a frown on her face.

"Stop what?" Xander asked in puzzlement.

"He's talking to you but I can't hear him." She shot an accusing look at Albriech. "I could hear you earlier, why can't I hear you now?"

_"Only to their chosen do Companions usually speak."_

"Uuhhh…. That doesn't make me one of these 'chosen' now, does it?" Faith looked at Albriech uneasily. "'Cause I've already got this whole chosen destiny, slayer thing going on here."

_"Speak to more I can, Slayer Faith. Easier to speak to chosen only though."_

"Just call me Faith, Silver."

Xander listened to the exchange in silence. "So, it's easier to speak to me. Why?"

_"Mindspeach gift you have. Easier for you to receive my thoughts it is. Easier for you to broadcast your thoughts to me it is as well."_

Xander's jaw dropped. "So you're saying that I can talk to you with my mind? I don't have to speak in order to talk to you?" Albriech nodded. Xander's jaw clenched. "Can you read my thoughts?"

_"Only if you wish it, Chosen. Your privacy I will respect." _Albriech's mind voice paused for a moment. _"Only if there is a time when your life depends on it will I ever try to enter deeper into your mind."_

"That's good to know. So I have this mindspeachie type gift." Xander groaned. "Figures more Hellmouth weirdness for the Xan-man." He gave his Companion the fish-eye. "Does this explain why I'm trusting you so easily? You haven't got into my head and made me think you're friendly, have you?"

_"No, Chosen. A special bond there is between Companion and Chosen. Almost like two halves of one soul are we."_

Xander turned white as he thought of the implications of that statement. "What do you mean?"

_"Your Companion I am. Felt you the bond when in my eyes you looked?"_

"Yes, and I heard you say that I would never be alone again."

_"Yes. For life is the bond."_

"And if I don't want that type of bond?"

Albriech stood silent for a moment. _"Broken it can be this early. YOU would be free."_

Xander frowned. Something didn't sound right there. "I hear a big but in there, Al."

Albriech wouldn't look at Xander. _"Cease to exist I would."_ His voice was very quiet in Xander's mind.

"What?!" Xander was appalled. "Are you saying that being separated from my mind will kill you?"

_"Yes." _

Xander had a minor explosion. "Great! Just great! So now I HAVE to keep this bond or else I'll kill you. Some choice there. No pressure at all!"

Albriech's mind voice took on a rueful tone. _"Understand your problem I do. Happened to me this did."_

Faith listened to Xander's half of the exchange. "Wait a minute, Silver." she interrupted, as she realized what was going on. "Your life is bound to Xander's. Is his life bound to yours? If you die, will it kill him?" This idea didn't set well with her and she wanted an answer, fast.

_"Survive it he would. But,"_ Albriech's mind voice paused slightly. _"Damaged in mind he might be."_

Faith and Xander swore rather creatively for a few minutes. After they wound down, Xander stood in silence for a few seconds and then drew a deep breath. "Well, there's nothing to be done about it right now." He looked at Faith. "Let's get your arm fixed, you packed, and then we'll find the others." His face hardened. "I don't care what Buffy and Willow have to say, I need to talk to the G-man about this and get his advice."

"Sounds like a plan, X. G should be able to figure something out." Faith went into her room.

Xander groaned. "Nothing is ever easy on the Hellmouth." he stated to the air as he followed Faith into her room.

Albriech stood outside the room and stuck his head into the door. In his years he had seen worse places while patrolling Exile's Gate, but the place was still appalling. He shook off his observation and projected his thoughts to Xander. _"Sorry, I am, Chosen. To burden you with myself was not my wish."_

Xander sighed as he prepared to help Faith relocate her shoulder. He decided not to disturb her with a conversation with Al so he tried mind speech. _"It's alright, Al. I just don't like having choices like that made for me. It'll take some getting used to."_

_"Understand this I do. Much the same happened to me one time."_

"Get on the bed, Faith." Xander ordered the injured slayer. _"That's the third time that you have made reference to your past. When will I get to hear about it?"_

_"When things have quieted down, talk we will."_

"Cant' wait, can you stud?"

Xander did a double take. "Duhhh!" he said blankly, before he shook his head as she started laughing at him. "Faith!" He heard Albriech chuckle in the back of his mind. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head at her little joke. "Just get comfortable, will you? This is going to hurt."

As Faith settled herself, she asked him a question. "So, X, how come you know how to relocate a shoulder?"

Xander shrugged. "Just something I picked up." He really didn't want to get into how he knew since it involved telling her that he learned by having his shoulder relocated a few times courtesy of his father. The first time his father had dislocated his shoulder, they had taken him to the hospital. The administration at the hospital finally bought his story of how the shoulder had gotten hurt, but not before they had asked a lot of questions. The next time his father dislocated his shoulder, instead of taking his son to the hospital, he had relocated the injury himself to avoid the scrutiny of the authorities. This had happened several times while he was growing up so the knowledge of what to do was pretty well ingrained into his head. He sat on the bed near her feet. "You ready?"

Faith licked her lips and nodded. "Yeah, Boytoy. Let's get this over with."

Xander nodded in response before he brought his leg up and planted his foot firmly against her collarbone near the shoulder. He reached down and gripped her hand with both of his. "This is going to hurt. I'm going to pull on three, okay?"

Faith nodded. "Just do it."

Xander took a deep breath. "One…" he said, and suddenly leaned back, yanking on the slayers arm with all his strength. He felt the joint crack back into place and let her hand go before she crushed it.

Faith yelped and then swore. "Damn you, Xander! You said three!"

He grinned at her. "Sorry about that, but if I had waited until three, you would have tensed up and it would have hurt worse."

Faith growled under her breath and flexed her shoulder. "Huh! I guess you know what your doing, Boytoy. It feels like normal." She suddenly reached out and grabbed his shirt front, pulling him in for a kiss. "I told you that I was going to reward you for saving my ass out there, X." Her lips locked on his and she fell backwards onto the bed, dragging him with her.

Xander mentally gulped, let his morals fight the losing battle with his hormones, and then let the kiss deepen.

An amused sort from the door brought everything to a sudden halt. Two heads turned to glare at the Companion in the door. _"Privacy do you require?"_

Xander blushed and looked at Faith sheepishly. "I guess we kinda forgot about him, didn't we?"

Faith just smirked at him. "Nope, didn't forget, just didn't care." That said she kissed him again.

_"Children."_ Albriech said, in amused disgust. He withdrew his head from the door. _"Outside I shall be, Chosen. Close the door behind me, you might wish. Have no hands to do so."_

Xander disentangled himself from Faith and closed the door, locking it behind him. As he turned, he was suddenly slammed into the wall with the dark slayer pressed hard against his body.

"Now, Boytoy." she said in a husky voice. "Where were we?" She didn't wait for a reply as she began kissing him again. Her hands went to the bottom of his shirt and tugged it up running them under it and over his skin.

He gasped into her mouth at the sensation and felt his own hands follow her lead. Just as his hands ran up her sides and reached the bottom of her bra, fate decided to intervene. A blue flash appeared behind his eyes and suddenly, he no longer saw Faith. Instead he saw O'Toole setting up a bomb; then a flash to Buffy and the gang fighting more of the VUB in the library; then an explosion that left all his friends dead in its wake and an open Hellmouth with the demons it contained pouring out. His body stiffened as the visions started and then went almost limp when they ended. Faith felt the change in him and grabbed him to keep him from falling.

"Dammit, X! What's wrong with you?" Faith demanded, half in concern and half in disgust. "You aren't that quick on the draw are you? Because if you are, you are going to seriously piss me off!"

"Huh? What?" was about all he could say as the images that had entered his mind conflicted with what she was saying for the most attention. He shook his head to clear it and repeated what Faith had said. "Quick on the draw?" he asked in a slightly stunned way. Then the meaning of what she said caught up with him. He turned red and began stammering. "N,n,no! Nothing like that!" He freed his one of his hands from her shirt and wiped his eyes as she looked at him impatiently.

"Alright," she said in an angry tone, "then what just happened?"

"I'm not really sure." he admitted. "One second I'm all into the kissing and everything and the next I get this weird vision of the library being blown up and the Hellmouth being opened." O'Toole's face flashed in front of his eyes and the words about fireworks replayed in his mind. Everything snapped into place. "Shit!" he exclaimed. "We've got to get to the school."

"What?" Faith protested. "Why?"

"Because that zombie O'Toole is going to blow it up." He reached for the door. _"Al! We got trouble!"_ he yelled with his mind. He looked back at Faith who was following him. "If we don't get there soon, he's going to kill Buff, Wills, and the others in the explosion and the Hellmouth is going to open."

"Damn!" Faith exclaimed. "Okay, Boytoy, I'm in. Now, how do we get there?"

Xander grinned as Albriech came out of the darkness to stand before them.

_"What is wrong, Chosen?"_

Instead of answering his Companion, Xander quickly swung up onto his back. "I'll fill you in on the way, Al." He turned and offered a hand to the waiting slayer. "By Companion express." he said, answering her earlier question, as she gripped his hand and swung up behind him. "Al, get us to the library as fast as you can." He projected the directions directly into the Companions mind.

Albriech reared slightly and took off like a shot, carrying his two passengers to the waiting battle.

**A/N: Done! I hope that you like it. I know that there is a fairly substantial break between updates but RL does tend to get in the way. Work, family, and other fanfics that I am writing get in the way. And, sometimes my muse gets amusement by taking vacations without prior warning and I'm just left twisting in the wind with a case of writer's block. I know what I want to write, but I just can't seem to get it down right. Again, thanks for all the reviews. I would write this without them, but they sure do make writing this more fun. Later. **


	4. Chapter 4

-1** Chapter 3**

**A/N: whistles softly I never thought that this story would get as much attention as it has. I am very grateful to all who have reviewed and put this story on their favorites list. I hope that I don't disappoint you. Now, as to the length between updates. sighs I will try to make them sooner, but life has a way of throwing things at you that interrupt things. (Sickness, tornadoes, overwork - take your pick!) Anyway, I don't own Buffy or Valdemar.**

Xander quickly discovered something. Riding bareback was not the best way to ride. 'Of course, it would help if I knew how to ride!' he thought desperately as he grabbed at Albriech's mane. It didn't help that Faith was clutching him for dear life to keep from sliding off the Companion's rump. Albriech's voice echoed in his mind. _"If you allow, help I can." _

Xander clutched at the Companion's mane tighter. "Yes! Help!" he yelled in desperation.

Albriech's mind voice chuckled slightly as he reached into his chosen's mind and gave him temporary knowledge of how to ride. As Xander shifted his weight to get a better seat on Albriech's back, the companion hastened to explain that the knowledge was only temporary. _"Not long will this last."_ he cautioned. _"Learn to ride you must."_

As Xander's fear of falling off faded, he heaved a deep sigh. He reached to steady Faith as Albriech began to pick up speed. "Why can't this stay in my head?" he complained.

_"Not true knowledge, this is. Quick fix only. Body and mind must learn together for true knowledge."_

Xander glared at the back of his Companion's head, the slacker in him disheartened, and groaned. "I don't care what you say, Al, you still sound like Yoda." Albriech replied with a hard, jolting trot that convinced Xander that it might be better for him to save his arguments with his new horse shaped friend for when he wasn't on said friend's back.

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When the trio arrived at the Sunnydale High School, Faith dropped off the back of Albriech and promptly fell to the ground while she tried to get feeling back into her legs. "Damn!" she groaned as she massaged her legs. "I ain't doin' that again anytime soon, Silver."

Xander dropped to the ground next to her, his legs not quite as bad as hers since he had been helped by Albriech. He started rubbing the calve and thigh of the nearest leg. "I know what you mean, Faith. Looks like both of us are going to have to learn how to ride."

"You looked like you were doin' pretty good there, X." Faith shot at him as she struggled to stand. Once she got to her feet, she did a couple of quick knee bends to help work the kinks out. "Why do you need to learn?" she ground out between gritted teeth as the knots in her thighs loosened.

Xander grimaced as he copied her with the deep knee bends. "It was a quick fix only. Al here," he jerked his head irritably at the Companion who stood nearby, "said that he couldn't make the knowledge permanent so I still have to learn to ride."

"That bites." commiserated Faith.

"Don't it though." sighed Xander. He straightened and looked at her. "You ready?" he asked as he looked her over.

"Born ready, Stud." she answered.

"Good. Take Al and go to the library to help the gang with the VUB's from hell while I go get O'Toole and his boys." Xander turned from her to run into the building but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder and a protest from his Companion.

"No way, X!" Faith protested as she spun him to face her. "I'm not letting you face those undead freaks alone."

_"Indeed, Chosen. My duty is to help you."_ Albriech shook his head, snorted and stomped to emphasis his point.

Xander looked into Faith's eyes. "Thanks, Faith. I really appreciate that but I'm not the important one here. Keeping the Hellmouth closed is more important. I don't know what those demon girls are up to, but Buffy and the others are going to need all the help they can get." He grinned his lop-sided grin. "Besides, I can handle zombies easier than demons." In his mind, he carried on a different conversation with his Companion. _"Listen, Al. If you've peeked into my head at all, you know what my girls mean to me and you know that they will always come first." _His mind voice paused as he looked from Faith's eyes to Albriech's briefly. _"Don't fight me on this, Al. Please."_

The stallion reluctantly nodded his head. _"As you wish, Alexander. Careful you must be."_

"Careful is my middle name." Xander assured as he turned his back to the pair and ran into the school.

Faith cocked an eyebrow at Albriech. "Somehow, I don't believe him." she told the Companion.

Albriech responded with a snort and a nod of his head.

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"Hurry up and set the timer, you idiots!" O'Toole was in a hurry so he didn't waste time with niceties. "I promised this town fireworks and I plan on delivering!" He laughed at what he considered a joke.

"Gotta tell ya'," a voice said from the shadows, "as plans go, it sucks."

O'Toole spun to face the voice. "Who the hell are you and what makes you think that my plan sucks? Come on out here, you coward, and I'll show you how bad it sucks." The other three zombies that made up O'Toole's gang stepped up behind him and peered into the darkness with their leader, trying to catch a look at whoever was interrupting their fun.

Out of the shadows, several liquid filled balloons flew. They hit O'Toole and his gang and burst. The three zombies behind O'Toole looked blankly at each other for a second before their faces went slack and they slowly dropped to the ground. O'Toole watched in shock as his friends went back to their eternal sleep. "God damn you!" he shouted into the darkness. "What did you do to my friends?"

"I broke the spell holding them to this world." The voice was calm as it came closer. A figure stepped from the shadows to reveal itself as Xander Harris. "Holy water and blessed salt can do wonders to the undead." He cocked his head to the side as he looked at the fuming zombie. "Don't know why you're still standing, though."

O'Toole reached into his shirt as he backed away from the dark headed young man. "My grand-daddy couldn't stand the fact that I had died early, and since he is a voodoo priest, he brought me back." He pulled out a necklace. "I'll live as long as I wear this and it gives me the ability to bring others back." Suddenly, he spun and slapped the activation switch on the timer. "Now, you got three minutes to clear out before this school goes sky high."

Xander moved to stand between the zombie and the door leading out of the basement. "Not happening, Jack." He pulled his knife. "I may not be able to kill you, but I can cut enough off of you to keep you from leaving." Xander gestured towards the timer on the bomb. "Your only way out of here is to turn that thing off. You do that and I'll let you go."

O'Toole looked at the timer. It had counted down past two minutes. He knew that he could survive many things, but being blown apart wasn't one of them. "How do I know you'll let me go?"

"I've got too many other things to take care of right now." Xander grimaced at the zombie. "I really don't have time to chase you after you turn the bomb off."

The zombie nodded as he came to a decision. He reached over and turned off the timer.

Xander heaved a sigh of relief and then stepped out of the doorway. He gestured impatiently. "Get the hell out of here before I change my mind."

O'Toole trotted past him. After he had gone by, he paused at the top of the stairs to bluster at his enemy. "I'll get you for this, Harris." He turned and had taken about two steps when he was hit by a growling, furry missile. Werewolf Oz knocked him into a deserted classroom and began tearing the zombie apart.

Xander quickly sprinted up the stairs and peeked into the classroom where the carnage was taking place. He grimaced at the sight in front of him and made sure that the door was firmly locked before he turned back to the basement to disable the bomb. 'Man,' he thought to himself, 'I'm glad zombies don't bleed.' Two steps toward the bomb, he stopped, realizing something. "Oz isn't in his cage." he said, speaking to himself. "That means….. Shit!" The expletive had not fully exited his mouth when he took off at a dead run towards the library.

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Buffy didn't have time to think. It was all she could do to keep ahead of the Sisters of Jhe that were harassing her. The Sisters had attacked in force, splitting once they entered the library so that one force of them would keep the slayer and her allies busy while the other force worked on opening the Hellmouth. This tactic had worked and the Sisters had nearly succeeded in opening the Hellmouth. It didn't help that during the fighting Oz's cage had been broken open and the werewolf had escaped. At least he had accounted for one of the Sister's before he darted out of the library even though that was more because she had gotten in his way than from conscious thought. She risked a quick glance at Willow and Giles to see how things were going on the mojo front. The red headed witch's shield appeared to be holding up while the watcher was busy setting up the components for the ritual needed to stop the Sisterhood.

This glance cost her.

One of the Sisters got inside her guard and clocked her a good one to the side of the head that put Buffy into the nearest wall. Seeing stars and hearing bells, the slayer quickly got to her feet, shaking her head to clear it. The bright flashes dissipated, but the bells kept ringing … and were getting louder. She wasn't the only one who was hearing it either. The Sisters that were attacking her paused and cocked their heads to the side, trying to zero in on the source of the rhythmic chiming. It sounded almost like … hoof beats?

Suddenly, the doors to the library were flung open and in ran Faith. Buffy barely had time to breath a sigh of relief at the appearance of her sister slayer when a loud whiney was heard from the hallway. The doors crashed inward to reveal a white stallion, his head thrown back in a wild neighing battle cry.

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Faith took advantage of the distraction offered by Albriech and quickly knifed the nearest VUB. She saw that this shook Queen B out of her stupor. The blonde slayer managed to get around behind one of the sisters and broke her neck before the demon could react. Then Albriech took the field.

"Jesus!" Faith breathed as she watched this immense creature move with all the grace of a dancer. Albriech appeared to be prancing as he stepped in, mindful of his footing on the hard floor. He reared and lashed out with his fore hooves, smashing the nearest demon in the chest, sending her screaming to the floor. Her scream was short lived as he brought both hooves down on her face. Without pausing, he pivoted and kicked out with his rear hooves, catching another of the Sisters in the head, crushing her skull and killing her instantly. All hooves were on the floor for only an instant before he reared, gave another bellowing equine war cry, and launched himself at the next knot of Sisters.

Faith shook off her momentary paralysis and rushed over to guard her equine friend's side. She saw Buffy following her lead, but with some obvious caution since Albriech was an unknown factor to her. Faith smirked at the idea that Queen B was having to depend on her to get her queues during a fight. 'Might even do the bottle blond some good to follow orders instead of give 'em for a change.' "Yo, B!" she called out as she ducked a wild swing by a VUB. "Whatcha think of Silver?"

Buffy completed a roundhouse kick to the side of the Sisters head that was attacking her. "Not bad. He's beautiful and he knows how to fight. Where's the Lone Ranger?"

"He had to take care of something." Faith paused as she managed to get a knife into another of the VUB. "He'll be here soon."

Buffy punched another Sister. "I was kidding, Faith." She panted for a second while watching the white horse demolish another demon. "So, who does he belong to? And can I get one?"

Before Faith could answer, a rumbling began to reverberate through the room. The Sisters of Jhe begun to crow in triumph as the floor cracked open and began to spread.

"They have completed the ritual!" yelled Giles, getting their attention. "Keep them off of Willow and myself for a few moments while we reverse it!"

Smoke and a nauseating smell began to roil out of the chasm in the floor. Suddenly a clawed hand appeared through the smoke to grab the edge. Albriech's head was bobbing rapidly and he was snorting his displeasure. Another hand appeared to grab the other side of the gapping hole. Muscles could be seen flexing in the backs of the hands as a head raised from the depths. It blinked against the light that it had climbed into before focusing on those who would oppose it. It roared out a challenge. Albriech answered with a challenge of his own and then charged the massive demon!

"Albriech! No!" was all Faith had time to shout before he reached the demon. His teeth scored on the beast, drawing first blood. But for all his speed, the demon was quicker. It lashed out and caught Albriech in the side, scoring his flank deeply and causing him to scream in pain as he was thrown across the room.

"NOOOO!" Everyone stopped at the power of the scream. Xander stood in the doorway, staring at his fallen friend. Pain gave way to anger; anger gave way to rage; rage gave way to white, hot fury. The Sisters decided to make a move. Not a good idea. Xander's head snapped around to gaze at them. His eyes flashed green, and then red. A trigger had been tripped inside the young man, one that channeled his rage into a weapon. The Sisters exploded into flame. Their shrieks drew an answering bellow from their god. And that bellow drew Xander's attention.

He turned his head and began walking toward the demon. "You hurt my friend." The fire burned inside of him, seething like lava, waiting to explode. His voice was calm, running counter to the emotions inside of him. "Burn." he ordered, instinctively knowing that his rage would follow his will. Flames rose from the body of the demon god. Its roars of rage and challenge soon became shrieks of pain as its body was slowly consumed. It lost its grip on the edge of the abyss and fell backwards.

The gang stared at their comrade in shock at what he had just done. Giles snapped out of his awe induced stupor and called to Willow. "Willow!" He reached out and touched her arm. She shook herself and looked at the librarian. "We must complete the ritual before something else decides to try to come through!" She nodded, shakily, and taking a last look at her childhood friend, began the final parts of the ritual that would close the chasm.

Unnoticed by all, dark clouds gathered above the building.

With a final gesture, Willow completed the closing spell. The clouds took this moment to strike. A blinding flash of lightning lit the room as it crashed through the skylight and into the closing portal. It fragmented, rebounding from the Hellmouth and striking Xander square in the chest! He screamed in agony as his mind felt seared by an white hot iron before he collapsed to the floor to spasm for a moment before falling still. On the far side of the room, Albriech came awake with a scream of sympathetic pain and rage as his chosen fell.

Faith was the first to reach the side of the fallen Xander. She collapsed next to him and pulled his head into her lap. This couldn't be happening to her. She was just starting to like the idea of a friend. "Come on, Xander." she urged the unconscious young man, unconsciously dropping her habit to nickname in her distress. "Don't you dare die on me now! I still haven't thanked you for saving my ass earlier."

Unnoticed by her, Albriech had limped up to stand beside his chosen. He whinnied gently as he nuzzled him. _"Alive he still is."_ he informed Faith. _"But his mind is injured. Healing he must have, and soon, or lose him we will."_

Faith quickly looked around at the others who had gathered around them. Willow was weeping, thinking the worst and Giles was having to support her. They were in no position to help. Buffy looked stricken and angry. "B, we've gotta get an ambulance here and get him to the hospital."

Buffy's fear for Xander translated into anger and she started ranting. "I knew this would happen! I told him to stay out of it for his own good, but does he listen? Nooo! All Mr. Macho, I don't need no stinkin' powers, I'll do this if I want to! And now he could be dieing, and for what? I had the situation under control! I didn't need his help!"

Faith had heard enough. So had Albriech. Before she could move to backhand her sister slayer, the Companion …. Growled? Faith, Buffy, Giles, and Willow looked at him in shock. No horse had ever made a sound like that, but then Albriech wasn't a horse. In a scathing tone, he broadcast his next thoughts to Faith. _"Ungrateful bitch! Great was Alexander's courage! Saved her life he did. Dishonor him she does, and well without such friends as her he is." _He laid back his ears and snorted, before turning his back to them, interposing his body between Buffy, Giles, and Willow and his chosen and Faith. He knelt next to Xander, shocking Giles even more.

'This creature is intelligent!' he thought. 'It is acting to insure the welfare of Xander without being ordered.' He immediately became worried. "This is no ordinary horse." the Watcher stated. "What is he?"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Faith answered in a biting tone. She paused and shared a look with Albriech as he mind spoke her, asking her to help get Xander on his back. She moved over to Xander and gently began to drape him over the kneeling Companion's back. "Al here is special. He calls himself a Companion and he is X's friend." She stopped and looked at Albriech for a second before blushing slightly. "He says he's my friend, too." She held Xander steady as Albriech slowly clambered to his feet, ignoring the torrent of questions and accusations that were being sent towards her and the Companion. She swung up behind the unconscious young man and held him in place. Albriech began moving toward the door when a small blond slayer moved to block him.

"I don't know were you are taking him, but you and this demon horse aren't leaving here with Xander."

"I'm taking him to a hospital, you idiot! Now move out of our way!" Albriech laid back his ears and squealed a warning at her when she stood her ground with a determined look on her face. "B, I'd really take my advice and move if I were you." Faith's voice held some concern for her sister slayer, afraid of what would happen if she continued to act like an idiot. "He's pretty pissed at you, right now, and I don't know if he will hold back just because Xander likes you."

Buffy's eyes narrowed. She knelt to the side and grabbed a sword that had been dropped to the floor earlier in the fight. Taking a two handed grip on the pommel, she stood before the white demon horse that was trying to take her friend away. "Take one step toward that door and I'll cut your legs out from under you. I don't trust you to take Xander. We'll take care of him."

Albriech looked at her with contempt. With a sudden move, he reared slightly and lashed out with one of his fore hooves faster than her eyes could follow, catching her in the back of one of her hands with a silver hoof. Bones crunched and Buffy screamed in pain as she dropped the sword, clutching her wounded hand.

"I warned you, B. He doesn't like you very much right now for the way you've been treating the X-man here." She paused as she checked her grip on Xander, making sure that he was steady and that Al's sudden movement hadn't distressed him. "By the way, he says that you hold your sword like a child."

Buffy scowled through her tears. "How can you trust him? He could be a demon! And how come he just talks to you? And just how would he know how to hold a sword? He's a freaking horse, for God's sake!"

Faith cocked her head, listening to her silver friend and then smirked at Buffy. "He says, and I quote, 'Like you I do, Faith. Talk to you I will. She I do not like. Deserving of my words, she is not. As for holding a sword, weapons master I was before this life for over 40 years. More skill had my yearling students than you.' And I trust him because Xan does."

"That's a great reason!" Buffy exclaimed, in exasperation. "After all, we know what great instincts he has a trusting people and choosing friends." she bit out with deep sarcasm.

"You got that right, B." Faith said, agreeing with the blonde slayer much to her surprise. Her surprise and feeling of righteousness were quickly deflated when the Dark Slayer continued. "After all, he picked you and Red to be his best friends, didn't he?" Faith turned away from the stricken look on the faces of the two young women. "We're going to the hospital now. Maybe, when you get your heads out of your asses, you can follow and see how Xan is doin'." She nodded to Albriech. "Let's go, Silver." Albriech whinnied in agreement and set off as fast as he could without dislodging Faith or Xander, leaving behind two silently crying women and a man who was asking himself if he should have done more.

**A/N: I was beginning to wonder if I was going to finish this chapter. My muse deserted me for a while. I knew what I wanted to write, but I kept having problems getting it into the right words. I've rewritten this chapter 3 times! But, I think that things are getting back to normal. I _feel_ the words flowing, now. I've got some other writing to do, but the next chapter should be up sooner than this one. We are about to explore Xander's family a bit. Or, more appropriately, Buffy is going to explore it. She's not going to like what she finds. **


	5. Chapter 5

-1 Chapter Four

**A/N: Greetings to all and welcome to my attempt at good fiction. So far, almost everyone who has read this has liked it. Thank you for all the kind reviews and for the placement of this story on your favorites list. I'll try to live up to your expectations and keep this story interesting. Now for the required disclaimer - I don't own Buffy or Valdemar. I just enjoy thinking of new ways to torture the characters contained within those worlds.**

Albriech moved as quickly as was safe with Faith and an unconscious Xander on his back. _'Where is the nearest house of healing?'_ he queried Faith.

"Can I just show you in my head?" asked Faith in return. "I'm having enough trouble keeping myself and Xan on your back without trying to talk." As if to punctuate that statement, she had to shift her weight quickly while clutching Xander to keep from falling off.

_'Easily, Faith. No wish to intrude in your mind was the reason I had not suggested that already.'_

Albriech assured her. _'Think your answers to me. Speak with your mind, hear I will.'_ He looked into her mind and found the directions to the house of healing, what she called a hospital. _'Soon, chosen.' _he sent his thought to Xander alone. _'Do not give up.'_ He projected enough knowledge into Faith's head that she would be able to ride easier and then increased his speed to get his chosen to a healer.

With Faith's knowledge in his head, the hospital soon came into view. Faith slid from his back as he came to a stop by a set of double doors under some kind of awning. Ignoring the people that were gaping at them, Faith pulled Xander down to her and cradled him to her chest in a bridal carry. "Take off, Al. Hide out somewhere nearby and I'll get word to you as quick as possible."

_'I do not wish to leave …'_ Albriech began before he was cut off by the slayer.

"I know you don't Al, but these people ain't goin' to let you in. Hell, they might try to call animal control on you so scat and I'll let you know how he is as soon as possible." She turned and then paused. "God, I don't believe I'm thinking this." she muttered. She turned back to the Companion. "Can you reach my head from outside?" Albriech nodded enthusiastically, accompanied by a mind spoken _'Yes!'_. "Good! Now get out of here before these folks think I'm crazy!"

As he left, Albriech sent her one last message. _'Care not what they think do I. If needed, call, and come I will. Stay safe, Faith.'_ With those last words, he was gone, vanishing into the night and leaving Faith to care for Xander.

'I'm losing it.' she thought. 'I'm starting to get used to having his voice in my head.' She looked around for a nurse or an orderly, anyone who could help her with Xander. Spotting a group standing next to the door she yelled at them to get their attention away from looking where Albriech had disappeared. "Hey! Some help over here!" She noticed that they were nervous, checking out the darkness beyond the bright lights over the hospital emergency entrance. "Dammit! Gotta do everything myself!" She strode to the double doors carrying Xander as gently as she could. She expected them to open as she approached and almost slammed into them as they stayed closed. She swore loudly and kicked the door. "Let me in!" The nurses looked at her with apprehension. "He's hurt!" she gestured to Xander with her head. The nurses didn't move. Faith's temper went through the roof. She kicked the door again with enough force to crack the glass. "If he dies, I swear to God I'll rip your arms off! Now get your asses over here and unlock this door and help him!" She risked rolling his head to the side by shifting his weight forward. "He hasn't been bitten by anything! He got hit by lightning!" Faith turned sideways and prepared to give a full power side kick to take the doors out of their frame when one of the nurses seemed to make an internal decision. Faith watched her quick step to the door and flip a switch. The doors immediately slid open. "Thank God! Somebody with some sense!"

As she stepped through the doors, the other nurses suddenly became galvanized into action. One ran to the nurses station to grab a phone and call for a doctor over the intercom. The others grabbed an available gurney and ran it over to the slayer so that she could be relieved of her burden. Faith gently deposited Xander on the gurney, looking down at him in concern. She gently brushed a stray loch of hair off his forehead. "You better get better, Boytoy." she said softly. "If you don't, I'll kick your ass."

One of the nurses looked down at Xander as the others began taking his vital signs and sighed. "Oh, Xander, what has happened to you this time?" she asked in a rhetorical tone.

Faith started. "He in here often?" she asked, thinking that maybe B and the others might have had a reason for thinking that he would get hurt badly if he had been here that many times before.

"Not so much in the past couple of years." The nurse frowned. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him hardly at all. But before that, he was in here fairly often."

Before Faith could ask any questions, the doctor came running in and began demanding information on his patient. "What have we got, Nurse Pierce?"

The nurse who had been talking to Faith started talking. "We have a white male; approximately 17 years of age. He is unconscious; suffering from second degree burns to his chest apparently caused by a lightning strike." She nodded to one of the other nurses, indicating that she should take over.

"Pulse is weak but steady. Pupils are responsive. No apparent head trauma. Blood pressure is 120 over 60."

The doctor nodded as he bent over Xander and examined him, carefully peeling back his shirt to get a better look at the chest burns. He looked up at the nurse who came running up with a IV bag. "Get the IV started and start him on antibiotics to prevent any infection to this burn." He turned his head to look at Faith. "You brought him in?" he queried, watching as she nodded in assent. "Is he allergic to anything?"

Before Faith could tell him that she had no idea, Nurse Pierce answered. "He's not allergic to anything that we know of." The doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "He's been in here before and I remember him."

The doctor took a long look at her. "For you to remember him in particular either means that he had an unusual case or he's been in here a lot."

The nurse sighed. "The latter."

"I want his charts." He turned his attention back to Faith. "Can you tell me what happened?"

'Like I could do THAT!' she thought. "We were in the library at the high school when lightning came through the skylight and hit Xander in the chest."

"That's it? Anything else? Did he hit his head; go into convulsions; anything? The smallest detail could make all the difference."

"He just collapsed and had a full body spasm, then lay still. Does that help?"

"Some." He barked a series of orders at the nurses. "Get him cleaned up, dress the burn, and then get him down to radiology and get me a CAT scan. Someone contact his parents. We'll need them here to get permission for treatment since he is a minor." He smiled at Faith. "That should just be a formality. We'll get your friend fixed up in no time." That said, he turned and followed the gurney as the nurses pushed it through the doors, leaving the slayer behind. She stared at the doors for an undetermined time when she heard the emergency room doors open. She span around, ready to fight in case it was something evil. She relaxed slightly when she saw that it was Giles and the girls. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Xander's friends. "About time you got here. What kept you?"

Buffy, Willow, and Giles were taken aback by the sudden feeling of the need to defend themselves. Buffy's temper flared. "Hey! We got here as fast as that dinosaur of a car that Giles has could go!" She snorted. "Actually, a dinosaur could go faster than that rust bucket!"

Giles chose not to comment on that, merely glaring at his Slayer. He turned his concerned look to Faith. "We arrived as quickly as possible, Faith. How is Xander?"

Faith sagged slightly, letting her shoulders droop a little. "I don't know. They took him back there," she gestured toward the double doors, "and I haven't heard anything yet."

"B,b,b,but he was alive, right?" stammered a distraught Willow. "I mean he was all breathing and everything when you got here, right?"

"Yeah, Red, he was still breathin'." She crossed her arms and glared at the trio. "Why are you concerned now?"

Buffy and Willow both exploded at that. "Of course we're concerned!/ We always worry about him!" Both said at the same time. Willow started crying again and Buffy went on the offensive. Or started to. She jabbed a finger at Faith, forgetting in her anger that she was using her injured hand. The sudden movement brought out a gasp of pain from the blond slayer. She quickly clutched her injured hand to herself and settled for a death glare at the dark slayer. "Our being worried about him is why we didn't want him involved. And it looks like we were right. He could be dying in there and it was all because he got in the middle of everything." Buffy's eyes began to tear up. "He's supposed to have a normal live and not get involved in all this freakishness."

Faith felt a small amount of sympathy for her sister slayer, but it was overshadowed by the fact that she couldn't believe that B couldn't see what was in front of her face. "You really don't get it, do you?" She shook her head. "Have you ever watched Xan fight, B? Hell, do you know that he goes out on his own?" She almost smirked at the shocked looks. "Xan's not normal, hasn't been for a long time."

Buffy snorted. "Xander can't fight. He's clumsy and doesn't know which end of a knife is up." she stated in contempt. Willow nodded her agreement, eagerly at first, but then hesitated, remembering some of the things that had happened in their past.

Faith frowned. "That's bullshit stacked as deep as you are tall, B. I thought the same thing because I listened to you guys. It ain't so, and if you don't want him watching your six, then I'll take him 'cause he's hell on wheels in a fight." Buffy looked at her skeptically. "B, he killed two of the demon sisters without any help from me. And you saw what he did at the school."

"But that was because he was possessed by that hell horse!"

"Al ain't a demon, B." she paused as she thought about it for a second. "If anything, he's on the opposite side."

"Come off it, Faith!" snapped back Buffy. "You expect me to believe in angels?"

"Why not?" Faith replied. She looked at a suddenly very thoughtful Giles. "What about it, G? If there are demons from Hell, why shouldn't there be angels?"

Giles removed his glasses and began polishing them. "It is possible, I suppose. Actually, it would explain some things." He paused in his polishing and looked even more thoughtful.

"Crap!" Faith cursed, mildly. "Why don't I just ask him?" _'Yo, Silver!'_

_'Aye, Slayer Faith? Is Alexander well?'_

_'The docs lookin' him over right now.' _She paused for a second. _'What are you exactly? I mean are you some kind of angel or something?'_

Faith sensed amusement from Albriech. _'No angel am I. Closer to being an avatar for Vykandis I am.'_

_'Oh, okay.'_ Faith let that thought settle before continuing. _'Listen, I'll call later if I need you.'_

_'Stay well, Faith.'_

_'You, too, Silver.'_ Faith broke off contact with the Companion and looked at the trio that was looking at her strangely. "Sorry about that. Just had to talk to Silver for a second. By the way, he says that he's not an angel." Buffy snorted an 'I told you so.' Faith ignored her and continued. "He says that he is some kind of… She paused and spoke to herself, "Damn it what did he call it?" She snapped her fingers as she remembered exactly. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "He said he's an avatar for somebody named Vy-kan-dis, I think he said." She grinned at Buffy. "So he's on the light side."

Buffy grimaced. "Anyone can say their on the good guys side, Faith, that doesn't mean they are."

"B, I think you need to hold off on the bleach for a while cause it's messin, with your head. I know you saw him fighting on our side." She shook her head. "What makes you so suspicious of him, anyway?"

"Because Xander couldn't throw fireballs before he showed up, that's why!"

"How do you know? You haven't hung out with Boytoy in weeks now. He could have learned it on his own."

"Xander?" Buffy's tone was incredulous. "Not likely."

"Don't do that again, Buffy." The blonde spun to look at Willow with shock on her face at the tone that her red headed friend had used. "I agreed with you to keep Xander out because he was the 'normal one' and I didn't want to see him get hurt. I didn't agree to you belittling his courage, strength, or intelligence." She looked her friend in the eyes. "He is as brave as anyone here. He's not as strong as you, but you know what, without the slayer spirit in you, you wouldn't be either. And I know he acts like a big goof, but he has his reasons for doing that. Otherwise, he's almost as smart as me. He just doesn't like school work. He gets distracted too easily, like he has ADD or something." She put some force into her next words. "So don't you dare talk down about him again."

Before anything else could be said, the doors leading to the examination rooms opened, admitting Nurse Pierce. Everyone turned towards her expectantly. She looked at Faith and then looked at the others. "Are any of you the family of Alexander Harris?"

"No, we're all just very close friends." Faith answered for all them and the others nodded, mumbling assent as they did so.

The nurse drew a deep breath and began. "I don't have any news for you other than he appears stable. We are treating his burns and he is currently having a CAT scan run." She paused. "We're having trouble contacting his parents. Do you know if they are out of town? If they are, do you know where they are and can you contact them?"

"But, they never leave town." Willow protested. "They almost never leave their house, except to go to work and to go to the li… uuhh ….grocery store. Yeah, the grocery store." She ducked her head and wouldn't look the others in the eye.

Giles and Buffy decided to leave it alone, for now. Giles spoke up. "I take it that Xander is in need of specialized care and needs parental permission as he is still in the minority?" The nurse nodded. "Very well. Since they cannot be reached, I shall fetch them. Do you know their address?"

Before the nurse could answer, Willow spoke. "I know where he lives, Giles. It would probably be better if I came with you anyway since they know who I am but I don't want to leave Xander because he might wake up and he needs to see a friendly face when he does…"

Buffy put her good hand on Willow's mouth. "Stop, Wills. Now breath." Buffy removed her hand. "I'll go with Giles." She held up her hand to forestall any protest from Willow. "I know where he lives." She looked sheepish for a second. "I followed him home one night to make sure he got there all right. I'll show Giles where it is." She turned to her watcher. "But I want to call my mom first, to let her know I'm okay and to tell her what happened. She really likes Xander and would be upset if she heard about this from anyone else." At his nod, she went to the pay phones and made the call.

The nurse took the opportunity to pull Giles to the side for a moment. At his questioning look, she lowered her voice and spoke. "I didn't want the others to hear. I wanted to warn you. Don't expect to much from Alexander's parents."

"What do you mean?" A feeling of disquiet settled on the older man.

Nurse Pierce grimaced. "I've only met the father once and that left a bad taste in my mouth." She licked her lips. "For lack of a better term, the man is a pig."

Before Giles could ask any questions, Buffy returned from the phones. "Mom's on her way. Let's get a move on, Giles, and go get Xander's parents so that the hospital can fix him up." She grabbed his hand and began dragging him out the doors of the emergency room.

As they climbed into Giles' car, they failed to notice the large white figure secreted in the shadows. He looked to the hospital in anxiousness, waiting for the mind touch of his Chosen.

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Buffy fussed and complained, mostly about the speed, or lack thereof, that they were moving. Giles held his tongue, limiting his conversation to questions about how to get to the Harris house. After what Buffy thought was half the night, they pulled up to the curb in front of the house. She jumped out of the car as soon as it came to rest and charged to the front door, ignoring Giles' calls for her to wait for him. She began pounding on the door, yelling loudly to get the attention of the house's occupants. "Mr. and Mrs. Harris! We need to talk to you! Please, come to the door!" She kept pounding on the door and yelling.

"Buffy!" Giles came up behind her at the door. "Please control yourself! We need them to come to the hospital and we must exercise some decorum." Buffy looked at her Watcher. "The nurse at the hospital warned me that Xander's parents might not be very … helpful." he concluded after a pause.

Before Buffy could quiz him, they both heard noises coming from the other side of the door. Muffled cursing could be heard through the door as it sounded like someone stumbled into the wall. Finally, a man's rough voice yelled from the house. "Whoever the hell you are, get outta here! I ain't buyin' nothing'!"

"I assure you, sir, that we are not here to attempt to sell you any merchandise." Giles responded. "We are here because of your son, Alexander."

"What's that no good little pansy bastard gotten into now?" replied the obviously booze soaked voice from within the house.

Giles face took on a hard edge, but before he could speak Buffy started yelling at the drunken voice. "Xander's in the hospital and he needs your permission for the doctors to work on him!" she pleaded with the drunk. "Please, he could be dying!"

After a short silence, the sound of chains sliding back and deadbolts being unlocked came through. Suddenly, the door swung open, flooding the area in front of it with light. Buffy and Giles blinked at the sudden brightness and got a good look at Xander's father. The elder Harris was a tallish man who had once been muscular. There was a hint of it left behind in his shoulders, but his beer gut told a story of soft living and too much booze. He wore a stained t-shirt and faded sweatpants that looked rumpled, as if he had been sleeping in them. The man looked at them with bleary eyes, trying to focus as he glared at Giles for a moment and then Buffy. His glare changed into something more lascivious as his eyes traveled up and down the length of her body. "Well, hello there, blondie." he said, with a bit of a leer. "Just how do you know that good-for-nothing bastard of mine? And how _well_ do you know him?"

Buffy suppressed a shiver of disgust at this repulsive man. 'God, if I didn't need him for Xander…' she let that thought trail off. She let her face take on a pleading aspect as she began to ask Xander's father for help. "Please, Mr. Harris, we need you to come to the hospital. Xander was hit by lightning earlier this evening and the hospital needs your permission to treat him. If he doesn't get the right care soon, he could die."

Tony Harris looked from one to the other, looking as if he were trying to decide if this was some practical joke. Giles nodded in agreement to what Buffy had said. "Indeed, the doctor was quite adamant that Xander needed specialized care or his condition could deteriorate."

"Huh!" was Tony's response. He sucked on his teeth and then stated, "You two wait here while I go check on something." That said, he shut the door in their faces.

Buffy stared at the closed door in open mouthed astonishment. Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes took on a hard look as she stepped up to the door with a look on her face that said that the door was about to come off its hinges. Giles laid a hand on her arm to stop her. "Wait a moment, Buffy. I know that this fellow is rude in the extreme, but he could just be calling the hospital to verify our claim." He took his hand off his slayer's arm. "Let's give him a few minutes before we begin anything rash."

They waited in silence, Buffy fidgeting as the minutes passed. Just as she was about to loose her temper, noises could be heard from inside the house. The door opened again to reveal Mr. Harris. He was better dressed, though not by much. A rumpled but unstained t-shirt had replaced the old one and jeans had replaced the sweatpants. He grinned at the two people on his porch. "Had to find something and make sure I remembered it right." He slapped some papers from one hand to the other. "Now that I know what my insurance says about lightning strikes, we can head to the hospital. I need to see the doctors." He pushed past them and got into his truck. Buffy smiled in relief. Giles gestured to her to hurry up to his car to get back to the hospital. The relief he shared with Buffy was considerable, but something nagged at the back of his mind. He shrugged mentally as he and Buffy drove after Tony Harris' truck. He would ponder it later. Now, he had one of his children to look after.

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Buffy and Giles arrived several minutes after Tony Harris had. Their spirits, while not high were much better than they had been when they left the hospital earlier. Then they walked into a scene in the emergency room that was straight out of a nightmare. Joyce had arrived and was holding a weeping Willow while Faith had Xander's father dangling off the floor with one hand around his neck and the knife that Xander had given her earlier at his throat. Hospital security was on hand with their guns aimed at Faith. Nurse Pierce was standing between the guards and Faith, trying to talk her down and telling the guards not to get trigger happy.

Giles summed it up neatly. "What the bloody hell is going on here?" he bellowed. "Faith, have you gone mad?!"

Faith's eyes never left the reddening face of Tony Harris. "This son of a bitch just came in here and ordered the hospital NOT to treat Xan!" Her voice was whisper soft as she continued. "If he doesn't change his mind, I'm gonna skin him alive."

**A/N: Sorry to take so long, but RL can really mess with you. I want to thank everyone who is reading and reviewing this story. I never expected the kind of response that I have been getting. I've been writing amateur fiction for the past couple of years and nothing else I've done has done as well as this one, so quickly. I have one or two with more reviews, but none have gotten as many in as short a period of time as this one. I hope that I continue to keep you entertained. I would say that I'm sorry for leaving you guys with a cliffhanger, but we all know that I would be lying. Until next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

-1Chapter Five

**A\N: Thank you for all the kind reviews. I would write this without them, but getting them does give me incentive. Hey, I've got an ego, too, you know! Sorry for the exceptionally long time between posts, but I've rewritten this thing twice. I'm still not perfectly happy with it, but I hope you are. Anyway, I don't own Buffy or Valdemar. Those are owned by Mr. Whedon and Ms. Lackey.**

"Faith." Giles called softly. "Please, give me the knife."

"No way, G. Not until this piece of shit tells the doctors that they can work on X." She pressed the knife against his neck.

"Faith." This call came from an unexpected source. Nurse Pierce stepped closer while waving a hand at the security guards to stay back. "Please give the knife to Mr. Giles. I promise that nothing will happen to you." She looked at the dark slayer imploringly. "Please, hon. Xander wouldn't want this."

"How do you know?" Faith almost screamed back. "I heard what you guys said earlier. I can put two and two together. I know," she slammed Tony's head back into the wall hard enough for his teeth to snap against each other, "what this bastard has been doing to Xan." Tears streamed down her cheeks, shocking the Scoobies.

"Because it was done to you?" came the quiet response from the nurse. "Sweetie, would you have wanted someone you care about to go to jail for hurting the filth that hurt you? He's not worth it."

Faith fought the sobs that were coming from her. Suddenly, she screamed, wild and primal, and drew back the knife she was holding. She slammed it into the wall next to Tony Harris' head before she let him go. She turned and fell into her watcher's arms.

The security guards rushed forward to grab Faith when they were stopped by a very pissed off nurse. "Leave her alone!" she barked.

"But…" the head guard began.

"I don't care. I promised her that nothing would happen, and it won't." She glared at them. "Unless you want me to tell the chief of staff why bags of our rare blood types keep coming up missing, I would suggest you leave."

"Alright, fine! We're going." The guard chief motioned for his subordinates to go. As he turned away, he mumbled 'Bitch' under his breath.

Nurse Pierce laughed. "You think I'm bad? From the stories my dad tells, my mother did things that make me look like a saint. Apparently, Mom only suffered one fool lightly and that was because she thought she was in love with him. Now, get out of here before I show you some of that temper." She graced him with a hard edged smile, one that her mother had used to strike terror into the nurses under her command.

Tony Harris had regained his feet. His face was flushed with anger but before he could say anything, his head was snapped around by a slap the likes of which he had never felt. The stars cleared from his eyes to look into the enraged face of one Joyce Summers. If he had ever wondered what a mother wolf looked like defending her young, he no longer had to.

"You utter bastard." she declared. "How can you let a boy as fine as Xander not get the treatment he deserves? He's your son, for God's sake!" Joyce took a moment to compose herself as everyone looked at her in shock and admiration.

Tony grinned at her, maliciously. "For God's sake, you say?" He snorted. "That's why I'm denying him treatment." His grin widened to a smile. "It goes against my religion." He looked at the shocked faces of his son's friends in satisfaction and a little triumph. "That's right." he sneered. "My religious beliefs say that it's a sin to seek medical help. So, I can deny him whatever treatment I want to and none of you can stop me." He smirked. "After all, you wouldn't want to put his immortal soul in peril, would you?"

Joyce looked at him in shock and horror. She turned to Nurse Pierce. "Is that true?" she asked, her eyes pleading with the nurse to refute it.

Nurse Pierce looked at Tony with thinly veiled contempt. "Unfortunately, it is. Unless you can prove that he is lying, he has the right to deny Xander treatment based on his religious beliefs. We can get the hospital lawyers to try to get an injunction to override this, but there is little we can do until then."

"That means that what I say goes. And I say no treatment, and no life support either." His face took on a pious look. "My son's fate is in God's hands."

"Of course, it doesn't hurt that if Xander dies, you will receive a rather substantial insurance settlement." Giles quiet words caught Tony by surprise. He looked at the librarian in shock. Giles smiled thinly and slapped some papers against his chest. "You dropped these." was all he said before he grabbed the elder Harris by both sides of his collar and slammed him into the wall. "You bloody bastard!" It was Ripper's turn to rage at the man. "I should rip your lungs out, you bleeding wanker!" He began to slam the object of his contempt against the wall, repeatedly. Joyce and Nurse Pierce quickly moved to stop the enraged librarian before he killed Xander's father.

Faith started to move to help them when a voice in her head stopped her cold. _'Faith! Open the doors! Coming in, I am!'_ Not pausing to question this voice that she had come to trust, the dark haired Slayer ran to the double doors of the emergency room, stepping on the sensor that opened them and then stepping back as a large white form came trotting in. The other occupants of the ER waiting room suddenly stopped whatever they were doing to stare slack jawed at this new presence. The stallion stopped when he came abreast of Faith and swung his head around to look at her. _'Hurry, child! Something is wrong. Xander wakes and not easily. Great is his pain. And greater is his power.'_

Faith's jaw dropped at the last statement from the Companion. "What do you mean 'greater'?" she asked in shock. "X-man just roasted a bunch of those VUB's and their god like they were marshmallows with a thought and you're saying that he's stronger?!" At Albriech's nod her face whitened. "Shit!"

_'Indeed, Faith. No answers do I have about the why of it, nor do I care at this time.'_ Albriech's mind voice paused and he visibly shuddered. _'His mind in agony is. I must reach him ere he is driven mad by the pain.'_ He swung his head to look at the shocked group of adults. He gave a whiney of warning and tossed his head in an obvious threat. _'Cause problems, will they?'_ he asked Faith.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Watcher man is cool and so is Mrs. S. Even the nurse lady seems to be on our side. The only one who might cause problems," Faith let her lip curl in disgust, "Is that bag of crap over there who happens to be Xan's pop." She looked into the sapphire eye that was giving her it's full attention. "He's telling the docs not to work on Xan. Says it's his right because of his religion or something." She jerked her head in Giles direction. "G thinks it's just so that he can get money if Xan dies."

That was as far as she got. Albriech laid his ears back, bared his teeth, and squealed in rage. Fury radiated off him as he began taking slow, measured step towards Tony Harris. He didn't get far before his head suddenly snapped around in the direction of the doors that lead into the main part of the hospital. _'Faith!'_ he mindspoke, urgently. _'He needs us, NOW!'_

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Xander's mind was in turmoil. As his consciousness returned, so did the pain. His brain alternated between burning pain and throbbing agony. And, behind it all, was the murmur of voices. But, they weren't voices that he heard with his ears; they were voices in his head. At first, his thoughts were incoherent and disordered with no real understanding of what he was hearing. Slowly, the words began to make sense. He could 'hear' concern from Willow, Faith, and Mrs. Summers, and yet, somehow he knew that they were not in the room with him. It was like he was hearing them from a distance. And, he noticed something odd in spite of the pain. Their voices were 'twinned', so to speak. It was like listening to a conversation and getting whispered subtext, which was really weird when he considered the fact that he wasn't actually hearing them. This was confusing him and making the pain worse. Their voices faded out from the pain, but new ones were added to form an unholy chorus. These voices pressed in on his mind; voices pleading for help, complaining about the food, lusting after a pretty nurse, anything and everything in a continuous, discordant noise.

He moaned in pain and began twisting in his bed as the pain increased. New voices that he recognized entered and he latched onto them in an attempt to center himself. That was a mistake since the first voice he attached himself to in reflex was his father's. His pain was almost overridden by his disgust at what he heard from his father. He could 'hear' his father hope that he died so that he could get the insurance money. He 'heard' his father tell the nurse not to treat him. He 'heard' Faith attack and he tried to let go of his father so that he could center on Faith, but he was in too deep. He 'heard' everything that his father said to his girls, his family. He also 'heard' the gut wrenching things he would like to do to 'the little bastard's sluts' if they would let him or, if they wouldn't, what he would force them to do if he could get away with it. That thought burned past his agony. Xander's eyes snapped open as he screamed in rage. His vision blurred as if seeing through heat waves as his rage turned to dragon fire fury. His anger began to build even as he 'heard' Mrs. Summers tear his father a new one. The surge of affection that he felt for the woman that he wished was his mother began to calm him when he 'heard' what Tony Harris wanted to do to her for daring to slap him. His fury returned, doubled, then trebled as his thoughts centered on the bastard that was his father.

And then, a single cooling voice entered his head. _"Chosen, hold your anger! Coming I am!' _Xander could feel the urgency and concern in the voice of his Companion. It helped center him and the heat slowly dissipated as he felt his new found brother coming towards him. He felt a second presence with his friend and relief flooded him, causing the rage to retreat farther as he felt the dark slayer alongside Albriech. He almost smiled as his mind whispered _'Faith.'_. Never expecting her to hear him, he wasn't prepared for the shocked mind shout that she responded with.

_'X!!! What the hell?!'_

_'Faith?'_, asked Xander in wonder. _'My God, you can hear me?'_

_'Xan, you're freaking me out here!'_

_'It's alright children. Explain, I shall after we leave this place.' _Albriech projected to both. _'Xander, chosen, loath I am to take you from this house of healing, but little confidence have I that they can help you with the control of your mind. I am in the hallway. Can you come to the door of your room?'_

Xander grabbed the monitor leads and yanked them loose as he sat up in the bed with a groan. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he mentally answered Albriech. _'Yeah, Al, I'm coming.' _He paused at the foot of the bed and held onto the frame as he swayed in pain. _'God, Al! My head is killing me!'_

_'It's alright, Chosen.' _Albriech's voice soothed. _'Leave here soon we shall, and teach you to block out the voices I shall. As soon as you mount, I will put you under my shields and that will lessen the pain.'_

_'Can't happen quick enough, buddy.'_

_'Amen to that, Stud.' _Faith's mind voice cut in. _'I'm feelin' your pain, now, and I don't see how your standin'.' _

Xander felt guilt over that. _'I'm sorry, Faith. You shouldn't be feeling what I'm feeling. I wouldn't even wish this on Deadboy!'_ He staggered to the door and struggled to open it.

Faith had to smile at Xander's turn of phrase. _'Don't sweat it, X. You ain't doin' it on purpose.'_ Her smile vanished, to be replaced by a white faced grimace of pain. _'But, it wouldn't hurt for you to move your ass so that Silver can get his shields or whatever on you so that you won't hurt as bad.'_ Faith's mind voice paused. _'Hold on, Xander. I'm coming to help you.'_

_'That would be of the good.' _came the pained reply. Faith opened the door to find a white faced Xander leaning against the door frame. "Nice seeing you, Sexy." Xander said with a weak smile.

Faith returned the smile. "Back at you, Boytoy." Her smile faded to be replaced with a look of concern. "Come on, Xan." she encouraged as she slipped an arm around his waist, giving him a shoulder to lean on. "Let's get you on Silver and get the hell out of here."

"I'm all for that." replied Xander. Faith boosted him up onto Albriech's back and pulled herself up behind him. "Crap!" she heard him mutter. "Here come visitors we don't need."

Faith looked around to see a large group charging up the hall led by the doctor in charge of Xander's case. He was closely followed by security and then by the whole gang of Xander's friends and, unfortunately, family. "Now, see here, young man!" shouted the doctor. "You are in no condition to be leaving this hospital, much less riding this horse. Get down immediately and get back into bed!" He turned his attention to Faith. "And you!" he continued, "what are you trying to do? Kill him? I thought you wanted what's best for your friend."

"I do want what's best for Xan." she fired back. "I just don't think that you guys can handle his problems."

Before the doctor could protest further, a very clearly disgusted voice cut in. "Let the useless little bastard go, doc. He's awake and able to move and I'm saying that if he wants to check out, let him!" Tony Harris glared at the people that turned and looked it him in disgust. "Don't get all high and mighty with me!" he retorted. "If my sorry excuse for a son wants to leave, then let him! I wasn't going to allow him to be treated anyway, so he might as well get the hell out of here and let somebody who's worth something have the bed." He looked up at his son on the back of Albriech. "Get down off that horse, boy, and get your ass back home."

Xander looked down at his father in silence for a moment, and then with all the calm and dignity that he could muster, quietly said "No."

Tony Harris's face flushed blood red with anger. "What the hell did you say to me, boy?" He pointed a finger at Xander. "As long as I'm your father and you live under my roof, you'll do as I say!"

Xander's face turned white as his father ranted at him. His new found sensitivity picked up on a stray thought in his father's head. "You bastard." he said in a strangled whisper. "You're not my father."

Tony's eyes widened at Xander's accusation. "What the hell are you talking about, boy?" he yelled, almost desperately. "Of course I'm your father, and you'll do what I tell you."

Xander straightened on Albriech's back. "I don't think so, you son of a bitch. I'm not your son. I can see it in your head." Albriech turned to face Tony full on and took a slow, deliberate step towards him. "Now, tell me the rest of how you're not my father before I let my friend," he patted Albriech's neck lightly, "use you for a hoof cleaner."

**A/N: I'm sorry that this took so long. I'll try not to let the next chapter take as long.**


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